I came to as I crashed into the Edge. It took all my strength to move. The Edge thickened each time I tried. Warmth seeped into my skin. I stopped fighting and let my arms and legs rest. I resisted the urge to open my eyes. Instead, I curled up inside my wings. A strange comfort gripped me. A dangerous comfort.
I thought about the other side of these waves. Home, the inside disheveled by the wind infiltrating the hole I’d made when I left. Mother sat scared and hungry in our broken hut. What would I say to her? I wanted to apologize and tell her about Mystery. I did not know what she would say, but I saw her. I saw the new wrinkles around her eyes.
I saw the water boys searching for water that was no longer there. The lake dried up. I saw Lulu and Chaza sharing the remnants of the only jar of honey she had unpacked today. I saw something I never noticed before. In the treetops, starlight glimmered. I focused. Crystal peaks peeked through the treetops. It was a Mer, just like the Steward’s. But where was it?
I knew what I needed to do.
I tried to touch the Edge again with my hands. They kept still. My voice didn't have to move. I tested a low hum. It loosened and cooled around my face. I hummed a few notes until a shade of orange resonated and loosened my arms. I brought my hands together with as much force as I could muster and repeated the Steward’s song as I hummed to the coin.
The thickness that held me in place loosened with each note. With my eyes still closed, I made my way through. The air relaxed me. I hummed and tapped and hummed and tapped, but I was still stuck here in the Edge. It seemed to be never-ending.
My muscles exhausted the last of their energy. I couldn't do this anymore.
I heard a flurry of commotion coming toward me from behind. I flipped my head around and heard the bird’s high note playing softly through the air. I froze. The tips of her wings found and enveloped me. My eyes wanted to open and see who this was, but I knew it was the Mer bird. I kept them closed. She placed her warm, smooth egg against my neck in the place where my collar bones came together. She sang her notes into it. The egg muffled and collected them for just a moment, and then echoed the notes’ low compliment all around us. I hummed to the coin as it floated beside me and my fingers played my crystal bracelets.
